The Sweetest Joy Is You
by nodirection
Summary: When I saw you I was afraid to meet you. When I met you I was afraid to kiss you. When I kissed you I was afraid to love you. Now that I love you, I am afraid to lose you." OOC warning saku centric fic for himeko63
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Ok so, here is my new story. Sorry it's taken me so long. School is brutal, no joke. I've now got college decisions creeping up on me. So sorry. Anyway, I am slowly but surely working on my stories. But updates will be slower, guaranteed. Nevertheless, enjoy you healthy dose of Saku-ness!

nodirection

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_The Sweetest Joy Is You_

"When you are in _Love_ you can't fall asleep because reality is better than your dreams." –unknown

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Team 7… how to describe team 7? They were close weren't they? I mean, after how many years of training, sharing meals, swapping stories over fires, humoring one another, and most of all, always being defending your teammates, did it take for a team to get close? And they were close. They were family in almost every regard. Like every team, right?

Wrong. Team 7 was... so closely knit, it put every other team to shame.

Sakura knew that they were inseparable.

So…how…why? Why did Sasuke leave? He had been gone a while now, but, the pain in her heart had yet to dissipate. She had loved him with everything she had. At one point she could've argued her heart beat _because_ of Sasuke. Every time he'd catch her eye, and every time he sat by her. And especially every time he saved her.

Don't get Sakura wrong. She was no damsel in distress. But he always saved her if she ever came close. He was her knight in shining, black armor.

Now, Sasuke was painful memory and a heartache.

And yet she hated herself for being so softhearted. She hated herself for loving him.

Upon that moment, it was then when Sakura knew – that it had to stop. That loving Sasuke was pointless. Because he was _never coming back_. She'd never see him again.

This dedication to mending a broken heart was only half a year ago. Not terribly long at all.

The Sakura half a year later would love to say she was healed up.

She would never admit it to herself that she wasn't.

A stage of denial of the love she had once was where she laid currently.

Unfortunately, her teammates, being so close to her, were already quite of aware of Sakura's love dilemma.

To say the least, they were thrilled to find out she was trying to recover. It was her struggle that bothered them though.

For Naruto, having a friend turn traitor was painful enough. But how does one deal with that pain on top of knowing the girl you've loved since childhood is still hung up about your best friend? It's really not all that pleasant of a feeling.

It was not only just him that mourned the situation regarding Sakura's heart.

Kakashi had always known Sasuke would never go for Sakura. His desire for revenge was to greatly present than to allow love the chance to blossom. He was actually quite grateful for that too.

Moving forward, it was no mystery to anyone on team 7, aside from Sakura, that knew of the seniors of the team's love for Sakura.

Kakashi _and_ Yamato.

For Kakashi, he had no idea when it started. Maybe once he realized Sakura was starting to blossom as a ninja and as a mature adult. Once _Sasuke_ left, she had started training with the Godaime. All while trying to overcome an unrequited love of her childhood.

Yamato admired her for that. To him, Sakura was one of the strongest people he had ever met, and he loved her for it.

Yet, any love they could've shown her, any future they could've provided her, was dashed; because both were 26, while Sakura was only 16. A difference that large makes any one hesitate, I suppose.

The same couldn't be said for other shinobi looking to court Sakura, however.

A growing issue by the hour it seemed, with not only Sai and Naruto fawning over her, but Hyuuga Neji and Nara Shikamaru also.

Yamato could remember an incident as if it had only happened earlier that same day.

_He had just sat down on a stool from the ramen bar, adjacent to Naruto and Sai on the other side, Kakashi was late of course._

_Which was not surprising._

_He let his eyes gaze into the murky soup, his mind wandering far off._

_Pink hair and a brilliant smile made its way into his mind._

_Gosh he loved her. He really did._

_Why was it every time his heartbeat, he could've sworn it was all due to her?_

_He was a loveless fool though, in his opinion._

_She was much too young for him though, at least it wouldn't be accepted socially. Onlookers might sneer. _

_He wouldn't care if they sneered at him, but putting his Sakura through that rejection was not an option. She meant too much to him._

_He was so entranced by his fantasies; Yamato hadn't even notice Kakashi sit down to eat._

_He did notice though, when a certain pale eyed Hyuuga came into the bar with the love of his life a little too close to him for his liking…_

_Damn Hyuuga…_

Love could be a dangerous thing if one wasn't careful…

Sakura meanwhile, was oblivious to all this attention of course. For a girl as smart as she was, it never crossed her mind that love was in the air.

She thought it a bit strange when they would block her from being seen in front of a large group of oncoming males, though.

She realized some men were dogs and she grew indifferent to whistling in her direction. Why did they need to form a wall? Speaking of protective, Naruto was one of the worst.

Sakura knew Naruto liked her, possibly loved her. She was aware of that much however.

Naruto made it clear he had feelings for her. He could be quite touchy with her to if he wanted, much to the rest of team 7's displeasure.

All in all, the scenario was that of a confusing love sun. And the reason I say sun, is because all the men have fallen in love with one girl. Six different men all have eyes for the centerpiece, Sakura Haruno.

But for Sakura Haruno, her foremost challenge was getting Sasuke back as a part of team 7, and having a platonic relationship between him and her. If things were platonic, things would be back to normal. She was going to try and overcome this old heartbreak.

And after sharing her personal goal with Naruto when he, and he often did, mysteriously ended up at her house unannounced, he completely agreed with her. Naruto supported her fully, and for that Sakura rewarded him with a kiss on the cheek. (His face was akin to that of a tomato afterwards)

Team 7 was going to do their part too. After all Naruto promised her that he would bring Sasuke back. A promise is a promise, after all.

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They had been gone a long time. A long time, meaning 2 years.

Sakura was 18 now, close to 19. And yet, they still hadn't come home.

She was beginning to doubt they would ever come back. Did they forget about her? Did they even miss her?

She could only hope so at this point.

Vaguely she had wondered if they found Sasuke and just ditched her.

That was not a pleasing thought.

No, they would come back.

There would be a lot to catchup on of course.

Sakura couldn't wait till she could see their faces once she told them!

Or maybe they already knew? Well, whatever the case may be, the rankings had been changed in the top medics of the world.

Guess who was number one?

Oh yes, the one and only.

Besides her elevated status, Sakura had also gone to live in Suna for a year and a half.

Shikamaru had cracked down and gone to see her a year through her stay, which was so unlike him.

Temari had mentioned it was because he was smitten with her, but Sakura was in denial of that of course.

She and Shikamaru were friends, nothing more.

He would never want to date her!

Neji had shown up one day as well, grabbing Shikamaru by the neck of his shirt and tossing him down a flight of stairs.

Ah yes, her two best friends. They were surprisingly softhearted when it came to her. She loved how she was the only girl, aside from their teammates, that they opened up to. And she could do what none of their female teammates do too, make them blush!

She was quite proud of the fact.

It had happened one day, when they got together at Shikamaru's house to play shoji. It just so happened that she decided to wear a shorter skirt. Why not, it was her day off? She thought she looked good in it too.

What the general population and all the ninja world didn't know about those two, was that wearing a skirt that short while playing a game that was supposed to require concentration, made them very distractible.

Let's just leave it at their eyes were not on the board during that game.

She still laughed every time she thought about it. Oh, maybe she should try that on Gaara! If she made, _Neji_ crack, then maybe Gaara isn't as icy as he appears to be.

Back to where we were. Yes, Sakura had stayed with Gaara and is siblings in Suna. While there, she had grown extremely close to the Kazekage. Tsunade had even jokingly proposed a marriage.

When she thought about it, Sakura wouldn't have minded marrying Gaara. She knew he would keep her happy, and cherish her as a wife, most certainly.

But marriage at this age? Not a chance.

Besides, she was happy being single for now.

A baritone voice broke her thoughts. "Good morning Sakura chan."

She turned around to see a handsomely sharp-looking Hyuuga Neji.

To most of the female population, Neji embodied class. He oozed it with his high class heritage.

"Hello Neji kun!" She smiled brightly. Honestly, Neji's heart couldn't help but do a somersault. He cherished her entire being. It was almost pathtic. And deep down he realized that, admitting his defeat to love though was not in his vocabulary.

"How are y-" A big puff of smoke exploded and out appeared a Shikamaru Nara.

What great timing. Damn strategy genius.

"Sakura chan," he said a little too happily for Neji.

Lazily, he swung an arm around her shoulders and announced, "So…Tsunade has a mission for all of us."

"Why don't you release Sakura, Nara."

"Too troublesome. My arm is already comfortable."

"Well I'll rip it off then…" Neji muttered.

The thing that bothered him was not only Shikamaru's behavior, but it was the fact that he was so damn informal with his the apple of his eye. Sakura deserved to be put on the highest pedestal possible. She was an amazing person.

But the real reason that ticked him off the most was the excessive amount of physical contact Shikamaru threw in on top of that. That right was reserved for him only. That would be his future wife after all.

He already decided.

They all headed off towards the tower, a new mission awaited them.

Somehow, Neji couldn't wait for this mission. He had a feeling things were going to get interesting. Whether it is for the worst or not.

Besides, the best part was the fact that this pink haired beauty next to him was going to be going with him.

That was all he cared about.

He suppressed the urge to grab her hand with his and caress it.

Gosh how he loved her.

He was a gentleman though. He had control unlike some lazy shinobi on the other side of Sakura.

He mentally sighed. Yes, this would be interesting.

What all of them didn't realize as they entered the office of the hokage, was that such a precise premonition was spot on.

New perils were to be faced, and more feelings were to be explored.

Oh yes, interesting indeed.

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A/N: This was a short intro to the story. It just covers the background leading into the good stuff. I will be adding a lot more characters and romance. I hope it is decent. Tell me what you think? Good so far? _**REVIEW**_!

nodirection

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	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Sorry this took so long Himeko, I finally got my cast, so I've been holding off the update stuff till then.

Hope everyone enjoys!

The Sweetest Joy Is You

Chapter 2

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if i has to choose between loving you, and breathing. I would use my last breath to say _I love you_.

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18, what an age to be. Especially if you're a woman named Sakura. And you'd be lucky to be the guy to have a girl like her by your side.

Unfortunately for the virile population, this certain beauty was not looking for any man at the moment.

And actually, she was thankful not to have a relationship at the moment. The mission she had been assigned would not have been kind on _any_ romantic association.

Sakura assumed that when she'd approached Tsunade's desk that she was going on a mission with Neji and Shikamaru. Wrong.

Actually, Shikamaru and Neji had a mission in Suna with the Kazekage in some majorly important recon mission for some long lost team.

The team's name was classified from her. She didn't think much of it though.

It was her mission that had her preoccupied. Funnily enough, her mission was classified from them too. Sakura vaguely wondered why Neji and Shikamaru weren't allowed to know.

Her mission was to gather intelligence on Stone. The country and their long line of leaders were quite the shady type, and word had it they were planning an international coup.

At least that was what she heard amongst a few other ANBU.

The actual means of getting the information was actually the reason she wasn't too keen on going: Seduction using her feminine wiles.

Even if this mission wasn't classified, she still wouldn't tell her boys. They'd probably follow her in the night and slit whosever throat that tried to touch her.

Maybe that was a good idea?

She strapped on her gear and looked at Neji and Shikamaru who were by the door.

"Ready?"

"Ready." She replied.

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When they reached the gate, she stepped toward Shikamaru first, planting a kiss on his cheek, along with an affectionate hug afterwards.

With no hesitance, she stepped towards Neji and gave him the same open affection. She could've sworn he blushed.

"See you guys later!"

Moving toward the gate, she suddenly felt a large hand wrap around hers. Sakura turned towards Neji. He returned her goodbye with a kiss of his own on her cheek. Without warning, Shikamaru wrapped his arms behind her, burying his face in her hair.

Neji twitched. How dare he – nuzzle her. Was she a dog?

He suppressed the violent urge to punch Shikamaru.

"Good luck Sakura chan," Shikamaru said.

"You too!" She said happily. "Luv ya both!" she smiled.

When she ran off through the gates of Konoha, both sighed. Each knowing exactly what the other was thinking.

_Of _**course**_ she meant that in a platonic way_.

Both sighed again.

Shikamaru looked up at the clouds. Even so, there was no way he was going to give up yet. Thoughts of pink hair and green eyes flashed through his mind. His heart beat a bit faster.

Shikamaru was determined more than ever, he was going to win her over. Never had he felt so passionately about someone like he did for Sakura.

He glanced at Neji. Neji was his friend, his teammate, his shoji buddy.

But, no one was going to come between him and Sakura. Shikamaru felt a rise of something he couldn't quite name rise out of him. He wasn't entirely sure what it was either.

Little was he aware that Neji too, had the same emotion rising out him as well.

However, the name was one the Hyuuga could identify.

_Possessiveness_.

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Five Shinobi sprinted through the trees at an inhuman speed. They might actually be on time for once.

All of them were in a line, each step seeming synchronized. One the far left was a tall, dark haired, incredibly good looking fellow, with an emotionless, plastic smile on his face. His frame was slighter than his counterparts, but not to be underestimated. He was an elite shinobi of incredible artistic skill.

His name was Sai.

Yamato, an ANBU for leaf also was amongst their group. The seasoned ninja was the second oldest, and had brown hair unlike his counterparts. He ran with his shoulder line tensed, testimony to his ANBU background.

The man next to Yamato was the oldest out of the five. That didn't mean he wasn't as good looking as any of them either. His mask covered half his face, but gave him a mysterious look. His wild siver hair looked rugged and was enhanced by his leanly muscled body.

"Kakashi, who's Konoha sending to escort us home?" Naruto whined to the silver haired jounin. He was so bored after all. This running was monotonous!

Naruto, a towering blonde with a sunny disposition. He stood about 2 inches taller than the rest of the men, who were all quite tall already being all about 6`1".

A fact which he rubbed in Sasuke's face as much as possible. This leads us to the last man

Sasuke Uchiha. The sole Uchiha survivor. The reason all of them were currently not with their beloved Sakura as of right now.

"Not sure," But the hope in Kakashi'd response voiced all of their hopes. Maybe Sakura was waiting for them, at the location where the Konoha team would take them home.

It was stupid that they needed a team to escort them, but seeing as it was standard procedure, Kakashi supposed he couldn't complain. Especially not if Sakura was there waiting for them.

Sasuke felt something inside him – dare he say it – flutter, as they all sped up to get to their destination. Sakura could be there. And when he saw her for the first time in years, he could imagine how she'd be likely to tear up, and tackle him with a hug…

Yeah so, those were imaginings he kept well hidden from the others. Not only the fact that he had a tremendous albeit secret, crush on a long time friend and team mate, but if the others found about how he felt toward Sakura, they would surely be very displeased.

It was more than obvious how they all felt towards the pink haired kunoichi. Naruto's love for Sakura was so blatantly obvious, he felt himself obligated to punch the blonde.

Then, the trees thinned up ahead. And sunlight filled a gap in the forest. The pick up location.

They all stood in a line, muscled arms down, shoulders drawn back, with tense expressions on each ninja's face. Their hope shone through their eyes as they witnessed the escort team jump through the other side of the trees.

They could only hope to see a flash of pink…

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"Ah, you're here." The old woman at the desk said. "You're right on time, Miss Sakura."

"Ah, thank you,"

"Well then, let's get right down to business shall we?"

Sakura replied quietly, "Hai,"

"Aliright then, we must hurry…first off all, do you have a lover at home,or male companions who might be alarmed you are on this mission for me?"

"Well…I suppose so. Ok, very much so." She admitted.

The old lady frowned, her wrinkles frowning with her. "It can be problematic if they find out. Let's hope they don't,"

"Why not?"

"I know you will not like what you are going to have to do, I am sure they will hate it…"They woman drifted off, leaving the air a bit tense.

"What will happen if they find out?"

She laughed, "You tell me, they are the men in your life right? Lets hope they aren't the bull headed type."

Sakura laughed alongside her, however knowing that all the men in her life were quite bull headed when it came to her safety.

Let's hope they don't find out.

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A/N: ok so there is chapter 2, onto FDA chapter 9 now. (I still have to write it.) **Please Review!**


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